Tuesday, March 08, 2016

Things To Do & People To See

I found myself with a few appointments evenly spread throughout the day. With this schedule even pretending to work would be futile. So I took the day off to ride my bike and travel to meetings. I like taking pictures so I took some along the way to document the day.

To tell the story of being about town without a car.

I departed home at 9:30-ish and returned home at 5-ish. I expected temperatures in the high 40s. The real temperatures were in the upper 30s. With temps this low the 20mph windchill was a factor. I was very pleased to have made a last minute decision to wear a jacket. Without it I would not have been able to complete the day.

My favorite bike route from home to downtown is the south portion of the bike trail. It's not the quickest but it's the most fun. This is a 45 minute trip and it got me there in time for some coffee and some planning.

The route.

The coffee. I take a lot of pictures of helmets with coffee.

I wandered over to my favorite place to park bikes. Coincidentally nearby is my favorite place to change costumes.

I walked a bit until I discovered Julie Prairie's Photography Studio. I was part of a photo shoot for Live on Stage: Sioux Falls Concerts Association. I think I'm going to be on the cover of BizNow Magazine. Here's a picture of Julie Prairie - yes, that is her real name - taking a picture of me. Her studio is above Fresh Produce in the Gourley Building. If you'd like a signed 8x10 glossy of me I have a limited number available.

From there I did more walking and seemingly randomly took a picture of this Main Ave sharrow marking. Boy I'd rather ride in 10 feet of traffic lane than 4 feet of door-zone bike lane.

Shortly after that I visited the Visual Arts Center in the Washington Pavilion. I really wanted to see the exhibition of photographs taken by the Argus Leader journalists. I very much like photojournalism and I was not disappointed. I half expected and was half surprised to find bicycling was included in the exhibit. Specifically two photos from the tragic ride of Harald Vik. There was a short looping video feature too wherein the photographers said nice things about their work.

From here it was errand running time. The bank, my parent's house, my Sanford Profile coach and lunch at Jimmy Johns. With flags flying half staff the huge flag at Maximum Promotions seemed especially close. The picture doesn't do it justice but it's a bike and a flag so I'm including it. Is it still half for Scalia our is it now for Nancy? I can't keep up. At what point will we just full-time fly them at half?

#16 - Club Lulu. Unwich. If I skip the bread can I have a cookie the size of a plate later?

I was pleased to happen upon Kirk on The Troll en route. Always good to see him - and other riders - out and about riding. I was not quick enough to get a picture.

After the errand running it was time to land back downtown at Coffea. I had read an article by seemingly the newest bike advocate in town. I wanted to meet him. So I ordered up a cup of coffee and a cookie the size of a plate and sat across from Zach DeBoer for shy of a couple hours.

This is an ambitious young man who lives and loves the fabric of urban living. I learned that last year he, for one weekend, converted northbound north Main Ave from parallel to diagonal parking and gained 60 parking spots. He did this with duct tape and official permission. He is also the creator of the Art Maze event that my family enjoyed.

Speaking of hands, if you need one there's is one pinned to a tree downtown. High five!

The final item on the day's agenda was mid-term middle school conferences. I had intended to circumvent the city via the north bike trail - to complete the loop - but with time restricted I opted for a more direct route. Time was so restricted I landed on the 45mph Madison Ave under the interstate. Sometimes you gotta do what you must. I arrived with 15 minutes to spare. I was not able to ride 45mph - because of the headwind.

Here's an almost empty bike rack.

Here's the errand running portion of my day. In the end I rode 28 miles. Really, there's no need to be too concerned about that cookie. Right coach?